H E L G A ROBINSON HAMMERSTEIN

The Battle of the Booklets:

Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the Word in early
sixteenth-century Germany*

It is an acknowledged fact that in the early sixteenth century prognostics

were in great demand and that the pamphlet (Flugschrift) was the most
widely used vehicle for the popularisation of these predictions. It must,
however, be stressed at the outset that the horrifying impact of the
predictions conveyed by means of pamphlets was largely due to the
reworking mechanism of oral communication, which is likely to have
been influenced much more readily by the crude images (especially
woodcuts on the title-pages) than by the text of the pamphlets. Pam-
phlets were part of a more complex communication process. 1 Judging
from the number of reissues and the reaction of other writers to them,
there cannot have been many prognostic publications more widely
disseminated than Joseph Griinpeck's Speculum (Mirror) of 1508 and its
anonymous adaptation republished almost annually between 1515 and
1525.2 Whereas Griinpeck had utilised only some set pieces from the
key work of late medieval prognostics, Johannes Lichtenberger's Pro-

* T h e research for this article was made possibly by the generosity of the Herzog August
Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel; the author wishes to express her sincere gratitude.
1
R. W. Scribner, 'Flugblatt und Analphabetentum. W i e kam der gemeine Mann zu
reformatorischen Ideen?' in: H.-J. Köhler (ed.), Flugschriften als Massenmedien der
Reformationszeit (Stuttgart, 1981) pp. 65-76; idem, For the sake of simple folk. Popular
propaganda for the German Reformation (Cambridge, 1981), chapter one.
2
For Griinpeck's career, see A DB and NDB. His Pronosticon of 1496, which also contains
substantial verbatim excerpts from Lichtenberger, was not printed. Cf. D. Kurze,
Johannes Lichtenberger (as note 3) p. 48.
Speculum = Speculum naturalis coelestis et propheticae visionis... (Norimb. per Georg
Stuchs A n n o MDVIII. Séptimo Kalendas Novembris).
Mirror=Ein Spiegel der naturlichen himlischen vnd prophetischen sehungen ... (durch . . .
Georgen Stuchsen zu Nürnberg g e d r u c k t . . . MCCCCviij. j a r e , . . . xxvij. tag des monads
Octobris); reprinted as: Ain nutzliche betrachtung der Natürlichen hymlischen vnd prophe-
tischen ansehungen ... (Augsburg: Hans Schönsperger, 1522) and: Spiegel der naturli-
chen ... (Leipzig: Wolfgang Stockei, 1522) in Wolfenbüttel HAB: 27.1.Astron. (3) and:
Practica der gegenwärtigen großen triibsalen ... (Strasbourg: Cammerlander ca. 1540).
For anonymous practicas see below note 18.

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130 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

nosticatio in Latino,3 the anonymous pamphlet was even more eclectic.

Despite their selectivity, however, Griinpeck and the Anonymous re-
tained one specific characteristic of Lichtenberger's work, which is
generally recognised as the master's most significant achievement: the
fusion of astrology and late medieval Joachimist prophecy.4
When emphasising that pamphlets were the most widely used
means of promulgation of prognostics, it is necessary to bear in mind
H.-J. Köhler's definition of this medium as an 'independent imprint
consisting of more than one sheet, addressed to the general public with
the aim of agitation (i. e. influencing people's actions) and/or propa-
ganda (i. e. influencing people's convictions)'.51 am hoping to show more
fully below that this definition applies ideally to the practicas of
Griinpeck and the Anonymous. For the first, the term 'practica' seems
to disqualify them altogether from consideration as genuine pamphlets.
Practicas were already in great demand before the turn of the fifteenth
century as appendices to calendars.6 There they had offered the attrac-
tive combination of texts and illustrations consisting of woodcuts which
showed the planets in human form with their emblems graphically
indicated but in the main arising out of the astrologia naturalis. These
practicas published long-term weather prospects: rain, flooding, epi-
demics, bad harvests; and pronounced on the most propitious times for
bleeding. Such short publications cannot be classified as pamphlets,
since the material was presented without any intention of influencing
conviction or stimulating agitation. The late Latin word 'practica' refers
to the 'art' (Kunst) of contemporary astrologers who proceeded accord-
ing to fixed rules and claimed 'scientific' authenticity and proof for
their predictions. (This definition is indeed precisely echoed in the
anonymous practica under review, which describes itself as the 'product
of rules and tools which publicly discover the works that appear in
nature, position of planets and the signs of the zodiac where these have
their power and use it').7 However, even before the turn of the century

3
Cf. D. Kurze, Johannes Lichtenberger. Eine Studie zur Geschichte der Prophetie und
Astrologie (Lübeck - Hamburg, 1960), with a list of editions pp. 81 ff. First ed. of
Lichtenberger's work: Pronosticatio in Latino (Heidelberg: Heinrich Knoblochtzer,
1488).
4
D. Kurze, 'Prophecy and History', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 21
(1958), 63-85, esp. p. 64.
5
My translation. H.-J. Köhler, 'Die Flugschriften. Versuch der Präzisierung eines geläu-
figen Begriffs' in: Festgabefiir Ernst Walter Zeeden zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Horst Rabe,
H. Molitor and H.-C. Rublack (Munich, 1976) pp. 36-61.
« A. HaufTen, art., 'Praktik', RL.
7
Practica deützsch... (Speyer, Jakob Fabri [1521]) Aij r/v describes the work of the
astronomer: 'sein Kunst ist ein Regel vnd ein gezeüg / welches öffentlich entdeckt die
werk die do erscheynen auß der natur / stell der planeten vñ zeychë des Circkels der
thier / in welchem sie jren gewalt habe vñ sie vbët.'

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 131

some critical contemporaries had occasion to inveigh against practicas

as agents of popular disquiet, arguing that the popularity of such pub-
lications, stimulated by the avarice of printers, often resulted in inven-
ted doom predictions, which greatly and unnecessarily unsettled peo-
ple. Sebastian Brant maintained this; and it became a theme which runs
right through the age in which people wrote and bought the most
sensationalist prognostics.8 Genuine propagandist potential lay dor-
mant in the original practicas; and that not only because astrologia mathe-
matica and astrologia judiciaria were so closely linked in practice.9 The
transition was easy; and the prediction inspired by astrologia judiciaria
offered an irrefutable authority on which to base attempts to influence
people's convictions and influence their actions. The propagandist po-
tential was fully released with the following, frequently repeated state-
ment derived from astrologia judiciaria: 'planets do not force: they
merely incline, so that men might not embark on anything rashly, but
consult among themselves, how they might prevent such misfortunes to
the benefit (or prospering) of the common good, the preservation of
kings, princes, the countryside and the cities.' The culmination of such
inclining stellar influences on the world below is the prospect of'a new
reformation, a new law, a new empire' for men who learn the lessons
which the heavenly bodies teach them. Experience, a standard element
stressed in prognostics, also assumes a teaching function: it acts as a
further authority and provides in addition the nexus between past,
present and future. 10 'Consulting', 'preventing' and especially the men-
tion of the 'common good' are pointers to propagandist efforts in the
interest of Empire reform in the age of Maximilian."

8
Sebastian Brant, Das Narrenschiff {1494). Johannes Carion, himself an astrologer, in-
veighed against the sensationalism of Alexander Seitz's illustrated prognostic broad-
sheets, which were sold at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Cf. Aby Warburg, 'Heidnisch-
antike Weissagung in Wort und Bild zu Luthers Zeiten' (Heidelberg, 1920) p. 32f.: (cf.
Gesammelte Schriften II; Leipzig, 1932; repr. 1969); Georg Tannstetter also castigated
abuse of astrological predictions to spread gloom and despondency. See Gustav Hell-
mann, Aus der Blütezeit derAstrometeorologie (Beiträge zur Geschichte der Meteorologie 1 :
Berlin, 1914) p. 15.
9
Cf. Max Steinmetz, 'Johann Virdung von Haßfurt, sein Leben und seine astrologischen
Flugschriften', in: H.-J. Köhler (ed.), Flugschriften (as note 1) pp. 353-372, esp. p. 359.
10
Practica deützsch... (Speyer: Jakob Fabri, [1521]), Aijr: 'Auff das mann Kündt radts
pflegen / solchem vnglück fur zukomen / zu getewhüg der gemeyn / vnd enthaltung
Künig / Fürsten / Landt vñ Stett...'. On 'experience' as another way of prognostication
see D. Kurze, Johannes Lichtenberger (as note 3) p. 15.
11
The concept of Reformatio with its emphasis on the need to safeguard the common
good is present in many late medieval tracts. See Gerald Strauss (ed.), Manifestations of
Discontent on the Eve of the Reformation (Bloomington-London, 1971); W.-E. Peuckert,
Die Grosse Wende (reprinted: Darmstadt, 1966) pp. 195ff. For a discussion of Empire
Reform at the time of Maximilian I, with special emphasis on the contribution of the
estates, until 1502 under the leadership of Berthold von Henneberg, see H. Wies-

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132 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

There cannot be any doubt that the intention of promoting propa-

ganda and agitation was powerfully served by evidence from astrologia
judiciaria as reliable, authoritative proof. But the age knew of yet an-
other authority which could lend weight to this process: the Joachimist
prophecies. D. Kurze has demonstrated the extraordinary impact of
Johannes Lichtenberger's fusion of astrology and Joachimist prophecies
in a widely known compendium of 72 leaves with 45 woodcut illustra-
tions.12 With this fusion Lichtenberger also practically set a trend of
treating the prophecies not as an integral corpus but as a quarry from
which writers could, according to design, lift relevant set-pieces and
suitable motifs. Astrological evidence and Joachimist prophecies were
each individually strong authorities; but in their amalgamated form
many contemporaries considered them irrefutable authorities on the
basis of which effective propaganda could be elaborated. They were
indeed ideally suited to lend force to dire warnings of doom and destruc-
tion which would ensue, unless the right actions were taken to bring
about a new reformation.
Rather curiously, what was considered to lend even more force to a
prediction was the explicit admission by authors that they were using
previous practicas, arguing that whenever a good practica had been
made which had predicted all things well in the past, its redeployment
was bound to reinforce the present practica.13 It is therefore plausible to
maintain that the elements of evidence provided by astrological and late
medieval prophetic authorities were the common property of writers,
who were only too glad to admit that they were reusing a previous
practica as further proof of the validity of what they were saying. Such
'plagiarism' was accepted as proof of the professionalism of the authors
of practicas.14
For the purposes of this paper, only a small number - a discrete
group - of practicas has been subjected to closer scrutiny: a discrete
group among those apparently or allegedly concerned with forecasting
or rejecting the forecast of a second deluge for February 1524.15

flecker, Kaiser Maximilian I., das Reich, Österreich und Europa ander Wende der Neuzeit
2 (Vienna, 1971), 201 ff.; 3 (Vienna, 1975), 58ff.
12
D . Kurze, Johannes Lichtenberger(as note 3) p. 29; idem, 'Prophecy and History' (as note
4) p. 64. See also M. Reeves, Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages (Oxford, 1969) pp. 347 fF.
13
This is maintained by the a n o n y m o u s writer of Eyn auszug etlicher Practica...
(Nürnberg: Hans Hergot, 1525), Ci v .
14
A. Warburg, 'Heidnisch-antike Weissagung' (as note 8) p. 514; D. Kurze, Johannes
Lichtenberger (as note 3) pp. 33 ff.
15
For more comprehensive treatments of the prediction of a second deluge for February
1524 s e e Gustav Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit (as note 8); Lynn Thorndike, A History of
Magic and Experimental Science 4 ( N e w York, 1934), chapter LVIII; 5, chapter XI; Paola
Zambelli, 'Fine del m o n d o o inizio della propaganda?' in: Scienze, credenze occulte,

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 133

Lichtenberger's work of assorted astrological and prophetic author-

ities had been published as a fair-sized book, originally in Latin. Joseph
Griinpeck's Speculum can be identified as a crucial adaptation for the
more popular transmission: a practica-pamphlet. It was published in a
German version simultaneously in 1508.16 It is conceivable that Lichten-
berger's prognostication was more influential through the abbreviations
than through the original. This shorter popularising publication con-
tains all the selective elements from Lichtenberger, which resurface
later - possibly inspired by Virdung's work17 - in the set of anonymous
practicas between 1515 and 1525 that incorporate stellar and prophetic
predictions. They are variously known as: Practica deiitzsch gezogen ausz
(Außzug etlicher practica ausz) der laere vnd propheceyen / Sibille / Brigitte /
drilli / Joachim des abts / Methodij / vnd bru/der Reinharts / wirdt weren
biß jnß.. .jar. vnd sagt von wunderlichen din/gen.n
From a comparison of these practicas it emerges that the structure
of such short publications is as follows: part one contains the accumula-
tion of evidence, i. e. proof derived from astrology and prophecy, presen-

15
livelli di cultura (Florence, 1982) pp. 291-368; eadem, 'Astrologia, magia e alchimia nel
Rinascimento fiorentino ed europeo', Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell' Europa del
Cinquecento (Catalogue of the Council of Europe Exhibition: Florence, 1980) pp.
309-434. - Most of the pamphlets rely on astrological authorities exclusively.
16
Grünpeck's Speculum (Mirror) (as note 2). That practica pamphlets were written as
deliberate popularisers 'for the benefit of the common man', is evident from Johann
Carion's practicas (cf. G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit, as note 8, pp. 27-8) and the
anonymously published practica by Alexander Seitz, Ain Warnung des Sündtßuß...
1521 (G. Hellmann p. 65). See also Johann Friedrich, Astrologie und Reformation
(Munich, 1864) pp. 104-5.
17
For Virdung's proximity to Lichtenberger see M. Steinmetz, 'Johann Virdung' (as note
9) pp. 356 ff. See especially Virdung's Practica von dem Entcrist [end of the first decade of
the 16th century]. See also G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit (as note 8) pp. 57-62.
18
1. Anonymous, Practica deiitzsch gezogen ausz der lare vnd propheceyen / Sibille /
Brigitte / drilli / Joachim des Abts / Methodij / vnd bru/der Reinharts / wirdt
weren biß jns .xxv. jar vnd sagt von wunderlichen din/gen (Speyer: Jakob Fabri
[1521]) (UB Basel XE V 31.6). Another edition: G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit p. 66
(see also p. 44).
II. Anonymous, Practica Auszgezogen von Sibilla / Brigitta / drilli... wirt weeren noch
etiliche Jar / vnd sagt Vormals gedruckt im 18. Jar etc... (n. p., 1521). The title
page discloses that this practica was previously printed in 1518 and 1519 (SB
München Astr. Ρ 525/21). Internal evidence suggests that the practica was com-
posed and possibly published in 1515, since there is a forecast for 1516.
III. Anonymous, Eyn auszug etlicher Practica vnd Propheceyen auff vergangene vnd
zukunffiige Jar Sybille / Brigitte / drilli / Joachim des Abts / Methodii vnd brïtder
Reinharts / wirt weren biß auff das M.D.LXXXI Jar. (Nürnberg: Hans Hergot,
1525) (Wolfenbüttel HAB 121.1 Qu. (9).
Further editions in 1527 and 1530 are conjectural. 1527 seems to be a misreading
for 1521: SB Munich catalogue lists this wrongly. 1530 is only a conjectural date in
British Library Catalogue. Cf. R. W. Scribner, For the sake of simple folk ( as note 1)
pp. 184, 274; D. Kurze, Johannes Lichtenberger (as note 3) p. 66.

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134 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

ted in gloomy verbal images and graphic depictions; part two (Be-
schlussrede) offers the topical relevance and application of these
authorities and is the raison d'être of the publication, which is the more
specific attempt to influence and direct the reader or listener.
What is being communicated? The message of the practicas is not
easily summarised because of the associative method of the amassing of
authorities. Grünpeck's Speculum (Mirror) opens with two dedications,19
which are intended to act as an additional make-weight with the general
reader. The second dedication, however, also shows the more specific
purpose of the practica: the estates of the Empire, after the defeat and
demise of their former leader, Berthold von Henneberg, are being
encouraged to continue with their efforts at Empire Reform in the
interest of the 'common good'. At the same time the practica is pub-
lished as a means of stimulating popular moral support for these en-
deavours.20 Johann Friedrich called Grünpeck's practicas 'Staatsschrif-
ten'.21 It seems to me that they can more appropriately be described as
efforts to generate the right climate for Empire Reform by the estates
and the emperor working together, which was then far from being
practised.22 After leaving the employment of the emperor, Grünpeck
had become a free-lance writer, whose sympathies lay with the common
people's needs. These he expected to be more readily satisfied by the
joint endeavour of estates and emperor.23 In his dedication to the estates
he therefore raises the question whether the distressed state of affairs in
the Empire ought not to be seen as God's punishment for misdemean-
ours. Such punishment might have been averted and is still capable of
redress if the rulers read the signs of the times aright. Grünpeck offers
himself as their interpreter of what is essential for them to know about
the future. He discloses his credentials as: experience of the past,
heavenly art (astrology) and secret divine revelations (prophecy).24
In twelve chapters, the last of which offers his conclusions, he
proceeds to outline what they need to know. In the first instance he
draws their attention to signs which were understood by their fore-
fathers, such as blood dripping from the sky, armed riders fighting

19
Speculum is dedicated to Cardinal legate Bernhardinus and to the estates. The German
version of 1508 and the subsequent reissues have only the dedication to the estates. Cf.
Panzer, Annales 1,289-90, no. 608.
20 Cf. H. Wiesflecker, Kaiser Maximilian I. (as note 11) 3, 58 ff.
21
Johann Friedrich, Astrologie (as note 16) p. 63. Friedrich also presents Lichtenberger as
the continuator of Berthold von Henneberg's work, p. 30.
22
Cf. H. Wiesflecker, Kaiser Maximilian I. (as note 11) 2, 20 ff.
23
Unlike the 'Upper-rhenish Revolutionary', Grünpeck does not see himself as a cham-
pion of a popular movement. Cf. Klaus Arnold, "Oberrheinischer Revolutionär" oder
"Elsässischer Anonymus"?', Archivßir Kulturgeschichte 58 (1976), 410-31.
24
Ain nutzliche betrachtung (as note 2), Aiiij r

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 135

battles in the clouds, in addition to comets. In that same category of

signs he places the 'crosses that recently fell from heaven' into the
clothes of people.25 Griinpeck here urges the reader to transcend a
natural explanation by accepting these signs as a warning from God on
account of the wickedness of this world.26 He encourages indeed a
positive reading of the phenomena: they are represented as messengers
of eternal salvation and bliss. These crosses are interpreted as an earnest
of God's intention to release men from all 'affliction, anxiety and
desolation', if the signs are heeded.27 In Grünpeck's argument faithful
acceptance of the warnings is tantamount to successful combat against
the evils which they presage, whereas blasphemous rejection precipi-
tates their horrible fulfilment, the withdrawal of God's grace from the
people. The ensuing destruction will, as in former times, begin in the
Church,, since the priests are the first to deride the signs. Griinpeck
strikes a telling blow at his peer group in the midst of this whirl of
predictions. At no point is there any specification - other than through
images evoking distress - of what the warnings actually mean.
Chapters 2 to 11 afford ample opportunity to heap on more images
of gloom and doom. The preaching of the 'holy man in France'28
elaborates on the theme of the need for repentance, so as to avoid
destruction. The dual concern of this preacher is the neglect of the Word
of God and the neglect of the poor: the latter is represented as the result
of the former. The verbal images of sinful social conduct and resultant
distress are intense: 'you will implore the rivers to receive your lives
beneficently'; 'you will shout to the hilltops and precipices to let your
bodies glide down gently in their fall'; 'you will beg the trees to receive
your necks', so as to make a speedy end of all 'affliction, anxiety and
desolation'.29 Such ejaculations are followed by a general justification of
astronomy and prophecy, both of which, the author maintains, are not
dead but continue in this present age to admonish people. Chapter 3 is
concerned with the fate of the Ship of St. Peter, according to gemeine Sag

25
This 'cross miracle', on which among others Albrecht Dürer reported in 1503, had
started in the Low Countries and proceeded south along the Rhine. Griinpeck had
devoted a separate tract to such 'Wunderzeichen und Wunderbürden'. Cf. Rudolf
Schenda, 'Die deutschen Prodigiensammlungen des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts', Archiv
für Geschichte des Buchwesens 4 (1963), 638-710. On the 'signs' and their literary
reworking see Johannes Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes 6.2 (reprint: Freiburg,
1901), 450-83.
26
Ain nutzliche betrachtung (as note 2), Br.
27
'Trübsal, Angst und Not' as the leitmotif, ibid., Bijr"v.
28
This is a Joachimist set-piece derived from Lichtenberger.
29
Ain nutzliche betrachtung (as note 2), Biij-Biiij r . These images are of course reworkings
of biblical descriptions of tribulations, notably Luke 21,10f.; 23,29f. They had become
detached from their original context and intensified as disembodied doom predictions.

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136 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

(current opinion).30 Grünpeck alleges - as Lichtenberger had done

before him - that the originator of this gemeine Sag is a holy man, in
whose footsteps he will follow by adducing threefold proof. Again, the
accumulation of drastic images of doom is interrupted in favour of
theoretical reflections on the art of predicting by reference to experi-
ence, astrology and prophecy. Chapters 4 to 6 seek to demonstrate these
three ways, arguing that bad habits, customs and usages result in dis-
tress; that this observation is confirmed from natural causes (eclipses
and conjunction of planets) and prophecies and revelations. The pro-
phetic instances given here are, however, exclusively derived from the
Old Testament. As a logical sequence, the following chapters are dedi-
cated to the elucidation of examples from the witness of Isaiah and
Ezekiel. Specific prophecies are graphically recited and applied in a
general way, as announcing doom to Christians in general and the clergy
in particular. It is noteworthy, therefore, that apart from the introduc-
tion of the 'holy man' and the 'Ship of Peter', no Joachimist prophecies
are employed by Grünpeck. Rather, the prominent prophetic author-
ities are broadly anchored in the Old Testament.
After such a massive, overwhelming accumulation of authorities,
the conclusion seeks to impress by its stark brevity. Its gist is: these
horrors have been truly predicted. It is high time to awake, repent and
begin a reformation of all things, so as to confirm spirituality and laity in
moral pursuits. No recommendation of the modus of such a reform is
offered.
Grünpeck's Mirror reflects and seeks to direct contemporary expec-
tations. The much shorter anonymous German practicas, 'drawn from
Sibyl, Brigid, Cyril, Joachim, Methodius and Brother Reinhart',31 rely
eclectically on Grünpeck's material in respect of the 'holy man' and the
fate of the 'Ship of Peter'; but the Old Testament prophecies are alto-
gether superseded by the erratic Joachimist predictions announced in the
title. The text furthermore shows a rather confusing tendency to break
off in the middle of a passage of set-pieces from Grünpeck's tract, which
are in any case not arranged in Grünpeck's order. By comparison with
these anonymous practicas, Grünpeck's publication looks like a master-
piece of logical exposition. However, the three ways of making predic-
tions are briefly alluded to, and the purpose of such predictions is
explicitly stated as the desire to encourage deliberation on how the
calamity could be avoided and the common weal preserved. After a
review of the meaning of past conjunctions of planets, predictions in the

30
Ibid., Biiijv: another set-piece from Lichtenberger, who also makes the reference to
gemeine Sag.
31
See above, note 18.

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 137

manner of astrological calendars are made for the years 1516-1524 and
extended by a general reference to the peace which will prevail from
then until 1581. The years 1522 and 1524, together with subsequent five
years, are singled out for special attention: pestilence and famine will
ravage the land, the peasants will form an association against the nobil-
ity, the churches will suffer, there will be much treason and no trust
among the mighty; but then discord will be taken away and 'a new
reformation, a new law and a new empire will be ushered in'.32 Even in
the practica printed as late as 1521, there is a rather curious reference to
the prowess of the Emperor Maximilian, who will raise his shield in
defence of the good Germans with the help of God and men.33 After all
this, the conclusion, which is indeed generalised enough, is verbatim
that of Grünpeck's Mirror, followed by a mnemonic poem which high-
lights the call to reform.34
At first glance this unchanging conclusion in all the anonymous
practicas is somewhat surprising. However, while the almost annual
reissues of the anonymous practica between 1515 and 1525 suggest the
specific relevance of its predictions to each successive year, there must
have been a prevalent assumption that the call to reform was sufficient
and plausible in its non-specific form. Since there were indeed no
concrete reform plans, there was also no need for revision. It might
perhaps be truer to say, since the issuers or printers did not perceive any
major events which might prompt an adjustment in reform intentions,
there was also no need for a revision of the general conclusion.
This conjecture is confirmed rather than overturned by the reissue
of the anonymous practica by Hans Hergot in Nuremberg in 1525.35
Here the standard accumulation of evidence is followed by the standard
conclusion with its general reference to the need for reform; but now
this conclusion has been extended by a four-page insert, which is

32
Practica deiitzsch ... (Speyer: Jakob Fabri, 1521), Aiij v : 'ein newe Reformation, ein new
gesetz vnd ein new reych' - 'new' not in the sense of innovation but of renewal.
33
An approving reference to Maximilian's foreign policy? This locates the original
composition of the practica in the lifetime of Maximilian. Taken in conjunction with
the prediction for 1516 referred to above (nore 18), 1515 seems an acceptable date for its
first publication.
34
According to the researches of the Tübingen 'Flugschriftenprojekt', kindly made
available by Dr. H.-J. Köhler, the author of this poem is Johannes Steinberger.
35
The Nuremberg printer, Hans Hergot, was executed in Leipzig in 1527 for distributing
(possibly writing) the tract Von der newen Wandlung.... The Saxon authorities con-
demned him as a dangerous social revolutionary. His workshop has also printed Thomas
Müntzer's Ausgegrückte Entblößung in 1524. Cf. Helmut Claus, art., 'Hergot, Hans',
NDB; F. Seibt, Utopica (Düsseldorf, 1972) pp. 90-104; Hans Hergot und die Flugschrift
von der Newen Wandlung, facsimile edition: preface by Max Steinmetz, appendix by
Helmut Claus (Leipzig, 1977).

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138 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

eventually rounded off by the original poem.36 It is highly significant

that Hans Hergot, if he did not actually write the insert himself, had the
courage to print it.37 There is no concrétisation of reform plans, but a
skilful criticism of the savagery of rulers after the defeat of the peasants
in 1525. Covering himself with an opening sentence which reveals the
overall credit of practicas (acknowledging the fact that he is reusing an
old practica, because it was well made and had predicted all things
correctly in the past), the writer complains that no-one takes the heav-
enly signs and signals to heart any more. Since the world is feared more
than God, punishment is bound to come over the world. Against the
background of predictions relevant to imperial and ecclesiastical re-
forms, the specific conclusion emphasises the urgent need for a restitu-
tion of the old order - not the introduction of a new order - among all
the estates after the debacle of the Peasant War. Such restoration is
considered essential as a means of allowing all estates to benefit from a
transcendentally perceived salvation.38 The writer agrees that the peas-
ants have rebelled and that God has punished them for this rebellion.
However, he insists that through this punishment the peasants have
been released from the prison of their pride, which had prompted them
to take up arms against divinely ordained secular authority. Having said
this, he confers an exemplary role upon the chastised rebels: when the
peasant does his work as prescribed for him in Genesis, then he is the
favourite son of the Lord. The working peasant is set up as a model. This
is a remarkable attempt at an upward adjustment of the image of the
crushed peasant immediately after his ignominious defeat. An admoni-
tion to the princes follows. They are indeed warned not to introduce
'new things', but to rule correctly, not to overburden the peasants with
'injustices; for if they do, God will punish the rulers as he punished the
peasants'.39 These conclusions more than imply that injustices had
driven the peasants into rebellion. Such a state of affairs must be
reformed, especially among the clerical estate, which, as in Lichtenber-

36
See note 18, III: the insert is Cj v -Ciij v .
37
Hergot's premises had been raided by the Nuremberg officials in 1524 because of the
Müntzer incident; and he seems to have had a largely peripatetic life in consequence.
His wife Kunigunde remained in charge of the printing workshop. Cf. Gerhard
Zschäbitz, '"Von der newen Wandlung eynes Christlichen Lebens" - eine oft mißdeu-
tete Schrift aus der Zeit nach dem Großen Deutschen Bauernkrieg', Zeitschrift für
Geschichtswissenschaft 8 (1960), 908-18.
38
Assuming Hergot's personal concern with the practica, the inserted text throws light on
a transitional stage in the radicalisation of his mind. Here we find a practical acceptance
of the need to reestablish the 'old order' immediately after the defeat of the peasants in
1525. When that proved a false hope, Hergot seems to have seen no further option open
to him but to resort to the elaboration of a Utopian 'new order' as outlined in the tract
for which he was put to death. See note 35.
39 See note 18, III, Cijr.

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 139

ger and Griinpeck, is identified as the originator of all evils.40 A rather

interesting departure from the contemporary interpretation of the Turk
as the scourge of Christians rounds off the admonition of the unjust
exploiters who will be slain. The author hints that 'the Turk' might be
looked for nearer home among those who exploit the poor people.41 D.
Kurze has found an instance of such demythologising of the Turk in a
pamphlet by Paracelsus, written in 1529 or 1530; and he sees it as
Paracelsus's original contribution.42 Should the passage in the Hergot
practica be considered as a reflection of Paracelsus's views prior to the
publication of his own pamphlet; or is this Paracelsus's source?
When reviewing the images of gloom and despondency in the
practicas, it seems rather strange that they should have been employed
in a process of stimulating enthusiasm for reform. Are the gloomy
images not much rather manifestations of masochistic, even sadistic
sensationalism? It may be useful to remember at this point that the Fifth
Lateran Council (1512-17) had forbidden the concrétisation of proph-
ecies; since, it was argued, this could all too easily lead to unrest in the
ecclesiastical and secular sphere.43 This is official confirmation that the
prevalent doom predictions were considered agents of change rather
than hypnotising people into settling down in inertia. However, there
can be no doubt that at a psychological level the gloomy images articu-
lated anxieties. General anxieties did exist; but, as Jean Delumeau has
observed, they were turned into tabus by later historians.44 They were
certainly not invented by writers of practicas. But why did these writers
consider it useful 45 to articulate these prevailing fears and fix the atten-
tion of contemporaries on them again and again by such potent allu-
sions? What could possibly be the advantage of 'contemplating afflic-
tion, anxiety and desolation', which was the all-pervading theme not
only of the practicas, but also of other publications of more or less
ferocious intensity, especially in the build-up towards the second flood
forecast for 1524? One can only conjecture about the motives of the
writers. It is conceivable that the intention was to control anxieties by
naming them. This would amount to an acceptance of affliction, anxiety
and desolation as inevitable features of human existence: the conditio
humana as a vale of tears. Such an acceptance would have been gover-
ned by the assumption that coming to terms with negative experiences

40
In the context of the discussion of the fate of the 'Ship of St. Peter'.
41
Ibid., Cjv. The prophecy that the Turk will be slain in a final battle near Cologne is
another Lichtenberger set-piece. Cf. W.-E. Peuckert, Die Große Wende pp. 157 ff.
42
D. Kurze, Johannes Lichtenberger (as note 3) p. 66.
« Ibid., p. 45.
44
Jean Delumeau, La peur en Occident (Paris, 1978).
45
Cf. the title of Griinpeck's Mirror in the Augsburg reprint of 1522 (as note 2).

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140 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

was the essential prerequisite for developing man's ability to concen-

trate on the provision for the salvation of his soul. The practicas are
indeed inclined to forecast a decent life here on earth, if the rulers learn
from the contemplation of iniquities, since this will prompt them to
reform social evils. The 'common good' will emerge from such a 'useful
contemplation'; and it will be regulated in such a way that it can serve
mundane and transcendental salvation. The anonymous practicas dis-
play an emphatic belief in the perfectibility of man. Free will is an
instigator of a consciously penitent, and therefore constructive, re-
sponse to the prediction of evils. Such ideas, matching outward reform
with inner renewal, are entirely consonant with the underlying assump-
tions in Empire Reform tracts of an earlier period, such as the Refor-
matio Sigismundi.46
From the antagonistic response to such practicas by ardent 'evan-
gelic' opponents, one would assume that they were mostly concerned
with the dire prediction of an all-engulfing flood for February 1524.
There is, however, no mention of such a disaster. In fact Gustav Hell-
mann's researches have shown that a total flood was never predicted:
the front-page illustrations of pamphlets might suggest such a catas-
trophe, but the text that followed was usually consoling in its qualifica-
tion of the prediction.47 Popular oral tradition, however, was undoubt-
edly powerfully influenced by the helpless anticipation of devastation
on a large scale.48 On reflection, the accusations against the practicas are
probably not entirely surprising. The expected flood was the greatest
scare at the time: it inevitably became the popular concrétisation of any
doom prediction. The practicas were so nonspecific on the whole that
their very vagueness prompted arbitrary specific applications. These
practicas in general - though by no means all written by ardent Catholic
propagandists - were crucial in the polemical contest between Lu-
therans and Catholics in the 1520s.49
A useful curtain-raiser in this contest, however, is Lorenz Fries's
quite deliberately provocative practica, which eschews late medieval
prophetic authority.50 Private secretary to three successive bishops of
Würzburg, archivist, diplomat and historian, Fries launched an anti-

46
Cf. Gerald Strauss (ed.), Manifestations (as note 11) p. 3-31.
47
G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit (as note 8).
48
This is reflected in accounts of contemporary chroniclers. See my introduction to
Heinrich Pastoris, Casting a German Horoscope (Dublin, 1980) p. 2.
49
A pamphlet war is generally stipulated for the years 1521-1525. See R.G. Cole, 'The
Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda', ARG, 66 (1975), 93-102.
50
For a brief account of his life see ADB and NDB. Fries had a somewhat unusual career:
having been a student at Wittenberg from January 1518, he entered episcopal service at
Würzburg.

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 141

evangelic practica which did indeed deal with the flood of 1524.51 It is an
open, nimble attack on the work of the Basel printer, writer and poet
Pamphilus Gengenbach, who replied with a ferocious anti-practica. This
exchange of invectives had had its antecedents in Gengenbach's po-
lemic against Fries's astrological predictions of doom in Die Gouchmatt
in 1516.52
Fries bases his practica exclusively on astronomy, starting from the
premiss that God regulates the movements of the stars and has created
man not only capable of observing things here on earth but also in the
heavens. He presents his credentials as those of a thoroughgoing scholar
who ridicules the ignorant rejection of astronomy by people like the
author of Die Gouchmatt. Not satisfied with assailing the dilettante
Gengenbach, Fries also hits out at the writers of scary practicas who
discredit prognostications by sensationalising them. This two-pronged
attack is maintained throughout, while Fries declares his own purpose
as that of consoling the many people who have been frightened by the
so-called cruel conjunction of the upper planets predicted for 1524. In
particular, he points to one serious shortcoming in the manner in which
such prophecies are conveyed and received. Many soothsayers (he
speaks of Wahrsager) terrified people into expecting a flood, because
people tend to read only the title-page of a publication.53 This is an
oblique reference to the rather crude way in which many practicas had
sensationalist titles supplemented by scary woodcuts of rising waters,
with churches sliding into the floods, houses crumbling and people
floating helplessly about; whereas the actual text of the pamphlets was
relatively balanced and reassuring.
Fries identifies and criticises the writer of the Ephemerides for
combining astrology and prophecy in order to make doom predictions.54
The misleading nonsense which is fabricated by recourse to such au-
thorities induces Fries to rely on only one true authority, the work of the
ancient masters, Ptolemy, Albumasar and Aristotle. In matters of pre-

51
Ein zu samen gelesen vrteyl auß den alten erfarnen meistern der Astrology über die grossen
zu samen kunfft Saturni vnnd Jouis in dem M.D.xxiiij iar... n.d., n.p. (UB Göttingen,
Astron. II, 6132).
52
Cf. NDB. It is noteworthy that Gengenbach's press printed also astrological broad-
sheets and other sensationalising materials. See Hans Koegler, 'Das Mönchkalb vor
Papst Hadrian und das Wiener Prognostikon', Zeitschriftfür Bücherfreunde, 11.2 (1907),
411-6.
53
Fries, Practica, Aij r -Aij v .
54
This is a reference to the astrologer Johann Stöffler, whose publication Lynn Thorndike,
History ofMagic (as note 15) 5,181, describes as 'the remote cause of the flood scare'. An
accusation similar to that by Fries was made by Georg Tannstetter. In his Expurgatio
adversus divinationum etc. (Tübingen, 1 Nov. 1523) Stöffler denied ever having predict-
ed a second deluge. Cf. Thorndike 5, 225.

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142 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

dictions he urges science against the Bible. While his observation that
Aristotle has better knowledge of the rainbow than the Book of Genesis
might conceivably have been taken in the right spirit by his readers, the
provocatively expressed opinion that a doctor who consults the Bible
rather than Hippocrates ought to be considered a murderer was almost
inevitably bound to offend the sensibilities of many 'good Christians'.55
Having thus dealt with the misleading authorities, Fries assures the
people who are prepared to follow his good authorities, that there is no
need for panic; that the effect of the conjunction will manifest itself
between fifty and one hundred years in the future and will certainly not
result in the destruction of the world. Although Fries professes himself
disgusted with those who make pronouncements on the wickedness of
the world on the basis of their false authorities, he nevertheless con-
siders brotherly admonition in order. All Christians should feel warned,
especially the secular estate, 'not to laugh through their fingers' when
they see that some of their fellow men suffer; for the suffering will be
their lot next.56 In his conclusion Fries maintains that Germany might
be told much about a great many evils, wars, strangers and how the
common people fare, but he judges her too sick for such medicine.
Reassuring his audience once more that he has consulted trustworthy
books, he emphasises again that no flood will harm the Germans. 57
As early as 1520 Fries had defended astrological predictions as
useful and profitable to Christians,58 but he had obviously not been able
to persuade people like Gengenbach, whose Christianity was powerfully
influenced by Luther's emphasis on the pure Word of God as the sole
authority.59 Gengenbach hits out at Fries as a sordid blasphemer. The
title of his practica60 inveighs against an untrue practica in which a base
star-gazer61 has not only insulted men, but also God and his prophets
and Holy Scripture. The woodcut at the end of the pamphlet shows an
astrologer (Fries) in the shape of an ass, holding an astrological sphere.
In the refutation Gengenbach does not seem to be able to make up his

55
Fries, Practica, Aijv.
56
Fries, Practica, Aiij v . 'Durch die Finger lachen' is a well-known metaphor for 'Schaden-
freude', or just 'fooling oneself.
57
A general prognostic follows.
58
Carlo Ginzburg, II Nicodemismo (Turin, 1970) p. 30.
59
Cf. the entries on Gengenbach in NDB and RGG.
60
Ein Christliche vnd ware Practica / wider ein vnchristëliche gotzlesterige vnware practica.
Welche ein Bomolochischer stamêsaher hat lassen vßgon vff dz. M.CCCCC.xxiiij jar. Iñ
der / er nit allein die menschen / sunder auch Gott / sine Propheten vnd die helge geschryfft
gelestert vnd geschmâcht hat. [Basel: Pamphilus Gengenbach, 1523]. It is not clear
whether this pamphlet was written or only printed by Gengenbach. Cf. G. Hellmann,
Aus der Blütezeit (as note 8) p. 35.
61
'Bomolochisch' means, according to Hellmann p. 35, 'one who leers at the altar'.

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 143

mind fully in favour of the defence of the pure Word as the sole purpose
of his practica. He also defends the writers of practicas which contain
flood predictions, especially the master of the Ephemerides. He takes up
the cudgels on their behalf, one senses, because Fries denounced them.
Gengenbach lauds the 'God-fearing star-gazers' (including those who
use late medieval prophecies as their authorities) for not predicting a
total flood and for reminding people of God's promise to Noah, that the
world would never again be destroyed by a flood. It is this latter
consideration that makes such prognostics acceptable in his eyes.
Gengenbach's whole purpose seems to be to further the acceptance
of the Bible as a prophetic tool. He takes Fries severely to task for
rejecting the Bible as a confirming authority for predictions, arguing that
the Bible is full of prophecies which have all come true. Gengenbach
allows his hysterical antagonism to blot out the careful distinction made
by Fries between the areas of competence of the Bible and of natural
philosophy. He characterises the Bible as the necessary antidote to
natural philosophy, since natural philosophy reduces people to greedy
moneygrubbers. All this, however, is only a preliminary to the denun-
ciation of Fries as a base blasphemer who severs doctors from the source
of life, the Bible. Laying exclusive stress on Christ as the giver of life,
Gengenbach describes a doctor's true function as that of consoling the
whole community in that belief. His observations culminate in an
elaboration of the needs of a Christian community. What such a com-
munity needs are wise counsellors who consider the honour of God,
true pastors who teach the will of God and truly God-fearing doctors
whose hope lies more in God than Avicenna.62
A second section is appended to the practica, so as to deal more
fully with Fries's alleged iniquities. Here Gengenbach advocates the
need to study Scipture in order that two figures of divine astrology might
be recognised: to whit, that God is always with man and that punish-
ment will follow if God's will is not performed. Gengenbach's commu-
nity ideology seems to dominate his approach to Scripture and determine
his perception of its message. This message is reduced to the motto
which concludes the practica: Repent, do the will of God so as to avoid
punishment. For good measure there is also a brief reference to grace.
Together with this reduction, there is the reduction of the concept of the
common good - the overarching theme of the practicas in the Lichten-
berger tradition - to the context where it is actually being worked out,
namely in the urban communities. This is also the inhibiting prear-
ranged framework into which the Lutheran preaching of the pure Word

62
Gengenbach, Practica, (as note 60), Bi v .

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144 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

as the message of salvation by faith alone is received and inevitably

restrictively accommodated. 63
One of the earliest followers of Luther in Ulm, the former Francis-
can Heinrich von Kettenbach, who supported the Lutheran Reforma-
tion of the Word by issuing well over a dozen popularising pamphlets,
produced an anti-practica in 1523 which was in some respects similar to
that by Gengenbach. 64 The practica is announced in the title as 'prac-
tised exclusively out of Scripture'; 65 the flood predictions and the pop-
ular scare are not specifically mentioned here. The purpose of the
practica is quite single-minded: to teach Scripture - some eighty biblical
references are cited - and to replace conventional authorities on which
people rely by the sole authority of the Bible. Kettenbach seeks to press
the practicas into the service of 'teaching the Truth', since they are
obviously so popular that people are disinclined to do without them.
Kettenbach addresses his practica to the imperial cities as a warning of
dire things to come, if they do not reform their past behaviour. His
prediction takes its cue from the Diet of Worms in 1521, where, in his
opinion, the condemnation of Luther revealed their self-seeking and
demonstrated their rejection of the Word. Luther is celebrated as the
liberator of the Word from Babylonian captivity. Kettenbach expresses
his conviction that the Word could show the way to a true reformation, if
only the imperial cities were prepared to listen to it. By comparison with
Grünpeck and the Anonymous, the perspective on Empire Reform has
shifted very significantly: Kettenbach urges the centrality of the Word in
safeguarding the realm against its enemies. He emphasises that with
Luther's discovery of the pope as Antichrist, its worst enemy has been
identified; but it is also impossible to expect proper protection of the
realm from the emperor, who rejects Scripture. Because of this ad
hominem polemic, Kettenbach's practica was declared a treasonable
work at the Diet of Nuremberg in 1524.66
Kettenbach shares the view that restoration of obedience and the
preservation of the established social order are essential to Reform of
the Empire; and he is only too acutely aware that Luther's teaching is
considered seditious. He therefore attempts to tackle this prevalent fear
with the following words, which contain the obvious pun on Luther's

63
For a discussion of urban conditions and the progress of the Word see H.-C. Rublack,
'Forschungsbericht Stadt und Reformation', in: Β. Moeller (ed.), Stadt und Kirche im
16. Jahrhundert (SVRG 190; Gütersloh, 1978) pp. 9-26.
64
On Heinrich von Kettenbach see the entry in ADΒ. Carlo Ginzburg, II Nicodemismo (as
note 58) p. 32 suggests that Kettenbach was influenced by Gengenbach. It is unclear on
what evidence he bases this opinion.
65
Eyn Practica / practicirt auß der heilige Bibel uff vil zukunfftig yar... (Erfurt: Johann
Loersfeldl 1523).
66
Cf. Gerald Strauss, Nuremberg in the Sixteenth Century (New York, 1966) p. 174.

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 145

name and its association with the word 'lauter', meaning 'pure'. 'You
lords of the Empire and you imperial cities fear that where the Lutheran,
that is the pure doctrine of Christ proceeds, this might take away from
your authority, because Luther and Christ teach that we are all broth-
ers.'67 He dismisses this as of no social relevance; and assures the
rulers that they would in fact enjoy the only obedience that is worth
having, if they did not persecute Scripture; since Scripture teaches that
secular authority ought to be obeyed.68 Not discord but peace and
concord would ensue. He also addresses himself to the problem of
violence and unrest which some connect with Luther's teaching; and
again he suggests that the poor peasants are so agitated - this is in 1523 -
because of the great injustice of the persecution of the Word of God.
The Kettenbach practica, unlike that of Gengenbach, is a sustained
plea for the recognition of Luther as the preacher of the pure Word, as
the only authority on which the future can be safely based. Kettenbach
actually accuses the rulers of using force - perpetrating violence - in
order to protect themselves, because they have been overpowered by
the Word. He predicts that the leading pro-Lutheran cities (none of
them had to date officially accepted Luther's teaching) will suffer much
on account of their championing the cause of the Word. He mentions
Nuremberg, Ulm, Augsburg and Strasbourg; and is obviously referring
to their joint defence of the preaching of the 'pure Gospel' as a way of
making ineffectual the Edict of Worms without actually opposing it.69
Kettenbach's practica is a highly political pamphlet, urging the accept-
ance of only one authority - the Bible - in all political and social
arrangements in the interests of Empire Reform, urging the cities to
have the courage of their convictions in the year 1524, which was to be a
crucial year in terms of Empire Reform and the survival and consolida-
tion of the Lutheran movement, which was going to be the big issue at
the Diet of Nuremberg. 70
Balthasar Wilhelm, theologian and preacher at Schmalkalden,71
professes himself prompted by the detrimental influence of practicas to
write a 'scriptural practica' - using the Bible as the sole authority for
valid predictions of future concerns - as a New Year's gift for his friends
in 1524.72 His primary purpose is to discredit the conventional prognos-

67
Kettenbach, Practica, Aiiij v .
68
In 1523 Luther had published his tract on secular authority. Kettenbach takes his cue
from this tract.
69
Martin Brecht, 'Die gemeinsame Politik der Reichsstädte und die Reformation', Zeit-
schrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, kan. Abt. 94, 1977, 181-263.
71
On Balthasar Wilhelm, see Carlo Ginzburg, II Nicodemismo (as note 58) pp. 34-5.
72
Practica Deutsch auß der Gütlichen heyligen geschrifft / darinn zu vernemê die grausame
coniunctiö derfinsternüß / wie lange Zeit her / durch die Gotlosen widerchristë / wider das
Heylig Wort Gottes eyngefiirt (n.p., n.d.); (SB Munich, Rar. 1677/17).

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146 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

tic authorities by matching them item by item with biblical quotations.

Ptolemy must be replaced by Scripture: a fickle authority must make
way for a stable, reliable authority. According to Wilhelm, stars do not
'work or govern' future things. They are, however, 'signs' of future
things ordered by G o d ; and no man can know what they mean unless he
reads the Word. T h e writer of this practica does not look upon the Bible
as a case-book. His hermeneutical conception is expressed in the follow-
ing statement: no man can know the future will of G o d ; but Christians
are of the mind of Christ and this prompts them to follow Christ in
everything. There is then no need at all to investigate the future. 73
Wilhelm seeks to further the Reformation of the Word by means of
identifying five conjunctions, not of stars but of biblical texts, which
taken together reveal the identity of those who mislead the people. His
interpretation of these 'biblical conjunctions' enables Wilhelm to point
to the 'false Christs' who promise salvation by works: priests, monks and
nuns and, at the apex of this wicked hierarchy, 'Antichrist in the seat of
holiness'. Wilhelm insists that the Scriptures show what the conse-
quences of false teaching were in the past; and that the true conjunction
of biblical texts also teaches his contemporaries what the future holds
for them. T h e gist of his investigation is: there is no observance of G o d ' s
commandments; therefore G o d will come 'like a thief in the night' to
punish the world. Only towards the end of the practica is 'the second
flood' mentioned at all; and the author identifies it as the prevailing
falsehood in the world, which has already risen very high. His consola-
tion is that those who swim to the ark of the Christian (Lutheran)
community, which is built by faith in Christ alone, will be saved.
Not only does Wilhelm adopt the structure and organisation of the
anonymous practicas, while replacing their authorities; but he also
reworks the typical emphasis on God's imminent punishment: over-
whelming pictures of warnings against transgression are drawn with the
help of biblical paraphrases in highly emotive language. However, the
author professes himself confident that the device of encouraging 'fear
of the Lord' instead of'fear of the stars' will not lead to increased anxiety
among Christians: rather it will result in a conscious decision to cham-
pion the Word and have faith in it. Wilhelm is at great pains to make it
quite clear that the Word is not simply a prognostic device but the only
means of salvation. He sets himself an ambitious didactic task, for which
the practica seems to be the ideal vehicle.
A similar attitude to the Word is revealed in the 'Christian' practica
by Stephan Wacker. 74 This author, however, pursues the specific design

73 Ibid., Aij".
Das kain sündfluß werd auß der hailigen geschrifftprobiert vnndgezogen / zu trostung den
schwach glaubigen damit sie sich mügen wider die Astrologos die nit dann gewässer vnnd

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 147

of dispelling fears of the flood so generally predicted for February 1524.

The date of composition, 5 January 1524, indeed associates it very
closely with the dreaded event. The tract is written for 'the weak in faith'
in order to tell them that they do not need any protection against an
imagined flood; but that they need much protection against astrologers.
As in Wilhelm's pamphlet, the message hinges on the observation that
Christ is more concerned that people should know the will of God than
to be preoccupied with the stars. Wacker attempts to initiate a shift from
the visual to the abstract means of foreknowledge. He claims that the
two ways of obtaining this knowledge are in conflict with each other: the
visual is labelled pagan; the non-visual (that which is not seen) as
essentially Christian. Wacker is so anxious to discredit astrology as a
heathen interest and to instruct Christians in the way of God that he
gives new allegorical meaning to some key texts in the Bible. He asks, for
instance, why God told Abraham to leave his fatherland. His answer
points out that Abraham's fatherland was Chaldes, where 'astrological
conjuring tricks' were performed. This text is picked out to counter the
widely held view that Abraham was a crown witness for astrology and
that he himself taught it.75 Another biblical text which, according to
Wacker, had been used by astrologers to predict a flood on biblical
evidence is Matthew 14,30, which refers to the threatening waters that
rise and almost drown the disciple Peter. Wacker represents these waves
as the tide of salvation, which signifies joy rather than anxiety. The
general theme of the practica is the consolation to be derived from a
study of Scripture.
Heinrich Pastoris's pamphlet contains the most explicit attack on
the anonymous practicas which rely on late medieval prophetic and
astrological authorities.76 Pastoris, closely acquainted with Luther's
teaching, meets the challenge of these practicas and works out - in a
formal sense - the most carefully structured antidote to them. He selects
prophetic key concepts such as the expectation of the 'Agarenes' and of
'the new Frederick' and employs them polemically: the Agarenes be-
come the papacy, while the new Frederick is identified as Frederick the
Wise.77 In Pastoris's practica the interests of Empire and Reform are
transcended by the concerns of the Reformation of the Word. For this
Sündfluß fîirgeben (η. p. 25 Jan. 1524). For Stephan Wacker von Friedberg see Carlo
Ginzburg, II Nicodemismo (as note 58) pp. 32-3. See also G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit
(as note 8) pp. 63-4.
75
Wacker, Practica, Aiijr.
76
Practica Teütsch von vergangen vnd zukünfftigen dingen / Auß der Heyligen Geschrifft
gegründt vnd gezogen / Auff das ¡524. Jar. [Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger, 1523]. See
my facsimile edition and translation: Heinrich Pastoris, Practica Teütsch [Casting a
German Horoscope], (Dublin, 1980).
77
This identification is also made by Luther and other contemporaries: see W. E.
Peuckert, Die Große Wende (as note 41) pp. 227 f., 629 f.

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148 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

reason the doom rehearsals of the anonymous practicas are simply a

convenient point of departure from which to pursue an ambitious aim:
to defeat the negative attitudes allegedly engendered by the explosive
combination of scare in print and orally transmitted popular fears. The
exclusive weapon to challenge the domination of fear is the Word. The
goal is to teach the consoling meaning of the message of Christ's
redemptive act. This difficult abstract message is personalised in Luther
as the Christian hero. As in Kettenbach's practica Luther is represented
as the man who released the Word from its Babylonian captivity; but his
specific relevance is seen here as a man who through his encounter with
the living Word had learned to cope with fear by confronting the causes
of his anxieties with the assurance of the Word; and thus rejecting all
other so-called reassuring authorities as false. Along the lines of what
Luther himself had identified as the 'framework of false faith' in 1522,78
Pastoris argues that the practicas rely for their effectiveness not only on
the wrong authorities but also on uttering threats of doom which
increase the already existing fears and drive people in their desperation
to look for the wrong kind of assurances (indulgences). More emphatic-
ally than Stephan Wacker, Pastoris therefore insists that faith, as that
which is not seen, cannot be generated by that which is seen (material
placebos). The false authorities lead people into blind alleys: they do not
even begin to show the route by which faith can be reached.
For early sixteenth-century Lutheran theologians this was a crucial
preaching point, which they never failed to hammer home whenever the
opportunity arose. The practicas offered such an ideal opportunity. In
Pastoris's case there is no reason to doubt the precedence of the mes-
sage over the medium: but this medium afforded him a convincingly
antidotal way of putting the message across. Practicas were familiar; and
they must be seen, according to Pastoris, as the primary means of
encouraging a false faith. It is not at all unlikely that the author, as a
confirmed follower of Luther, enlarged and embellished the enemy
image in his practica in order to convey his reassuring message concern-
ing 'true, fearless faith' more successfully. Be that as it may, the chance
to popularise the Word and its offer of freedom from anxiety was so
welcome that Pastoris and other Lutheran writers adopted the structure
and the strategy of practicas - accumulation of evidence and topical
conclusion - and developed the technique of total substitution for
astrological and late medieval prophetic authorities by the sole authority
of the Bible. In one anonymous pamphlet God and Christ are referred to
as the highest astrologer.79
78 Martin Luther, Werke, WA IO2, 93-120.
79
Practica auff das M. D. vndxxvj. vnd alt nachüolgendeJar/auß der Kunst vnd geschrifft der
aller höchsten Astrologi / Gott des himlischen vatters / vnd Jesu Christi vnsers erlösers ...
(n.p., n.d.); (SB Munich, Rar. 1677/15).

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 149

By contrast with these 'Lutheran' practicas, the role of biblical texts

in 'Catholic' practicas is that of an additional authority.80 They merely
serve as further evidence of the truth of something that has been
uncovered through recourse to the more obvious authorities of astrol-
ogy and late medieval prophecy. Even where there is a call to protect the
Word, as in the thoroughly Catholic practica issued by Georg Tannstet-
ter,81 this call is not prompted by theological insights but inspired by the
decoding of heavenly warnings to overcome the wickedness of the
world. Thus Tannstetter's demand for the non-suppression of the Word
is placed in the context of Empire Reform as the endeavour to establish
the common good. His main concern is the question of how society as a
whole can be healed and reconciled. As far as the Word is concerned,
Tannstetter stresses the utility aspect of satisfying public longing for it.
The Word was made subservient to the needs of the reform of state and
society.82 To Luther and to Lutherans like Heinrich Pastoris, such views
were anathema. That the Word could not be fitted into an Empire
Reform movement - or even into the more limited gravamina move-
ment - had dawned on Luther as early as 1521, when the Diet of Worms
provided the stage for the unfruitful encounter of the theological and
the political 'reformers'. 83 In any case, the general orientation of the
Reformation of the Word was ultimately eschatological, as Heiko Ober-
man has persuasively argued.84
It is interesting to note that Heinrich Pastoris's practica also seeks
to make a contribution to Empire Reform by trying to prove that the two
authorities most frequently employed in promoting and popularising its
cause, namely astrology and late medieval prophecy are totally unsuita-
ble: they mislead people and destroy the harmony which they are
thought to create. For his own purpose, that of promoting the cause of
the Word, Pastoris employs Old Testament prophecies and gives them
an urgent positive relevance to the efforts of Luther, the new Elijah, who
discovered Christ as the Word of God incarnate. Characteristically, he
also has recourse to biblically inspired popular prophecies - the legend
of Frederick the Wise as the liberator of the tomb in which the Word had
lain dormant.85 Pastoris gives this legend a strident meaning when
80
E.g. Grünpeck: see above p. 134ff.
81
Cf. Johann Friedrich, Astrologie (as note 16) p. 93.
82
Another example of this is Leonhard Reynmann, Practica vber die grossen vnd manigfel-
tigen Coniunction... (Nürnberg: Hieronymus Höltzel, 1523). Cf. Carlo Ginzburg, II
Nicodemismo (as note 58) pp. 33-6.
83
Wilhelm Borth, Die Luthersache (Causa Lutheri) ¡517-1524 (Dissertation; Tübingen,
1970) pp. 69-125.
84
Heiko A. Oberman, 'Martin Luther - Vorläufer der Reformation', in: Verifikationen.
Festschrift für Gerhard Ebeling zum 70. Geburtstag ed. E. Jüngel, J. Wallmann, W.
Werbeck (Tübingen, 1982) pp. 91-119.
85 Martin Luther, Werke, WA 8, 398-476, 477-563.

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150 Helga Robinson Hammerstein

formulating his urgent plea for the cooperation of the secular ruler as
the vital, albeit spiritually neutral, instrument by means of which to
safeguard the Word.
Curiously, the only authority pressed into the service of Empire
Reform and the Reformation of the Word alike is the positive or
negative interpretation of freaks or monsters as prodigies.86 This is a
different category of authority; for whereas in astrology, late medieval
prophecy and the Word, the divine order is related to the world, the
freaks or monsters become authorities because God actually suspends
his good creation in them, in order to say something very directly and
urgently to the world. Thus Maximilian's reform efforts were demon-
strated as God-pleasing by interpreting the birth of a two-headed baby
girl as divine sanction of the emperor's policy of 'reconciliation'.87
Luther and Melanchthon, on the other hand, paraded the 'monk-calf
and the 'pope-ass'88 as evidence of divine condemnation of the papal
Church and divine sanction of the Reformation of the Word.
Only a section of the battle of the booklets has been examined in
this paper. The practicas selected have revealed a conflict between
opposing sets of authorities for establishing what each considers the
essential truth. It can be shown that the Empire Reform-minded exam-
ples employ astrological and/or late medieval prophetic authorities as
'scientific' methods of uncovering the truth about the future and make
gloomy predictions which are intended to summon the people to repent-
ance. This is assumed to put them in the right frame of mind for inner
renewal as the prerequisite of outward reform. The opposing practicas
reviewed here were all written by 'Lutherans' who reject this 'science' as
'Catholic'. They seek to assist Luther in the task of proclaiming the
Word as the only means of preparing the world for whatever future God
might have in store for it. There were, of course, also 'Lutheran scien-
tists', like Volmar, Copp and Carion.89 However, since their contribution
to the debate is the subject of another paper,90 all that needs to be said
here is that they perceived their assignment as recognisably 'scientific'

86
Many authors follow Johann Friedrich, Astrologie (as note 41) pp. 107,112ff., in making
no distinction between prodigies and astrological authorities in prognostications.
87
Dieter Wuttke, 'Wunderdeutung und Politik', in: Kaspar Hann (ed.), Landesgeschichte
als Geistesgeschichte. Festschrift für Otto Herding zum 65. Geburtstag (Stuttgart, 1977) pp.
217-244.
88
Hartmann Grisar and Franz Heege, Luthers Kampßilder 3: Der Bilderkampf in den
Schriften von 1523-1545. (Freiburg/Br„ 1923) pp. 17 ff.
89
Cf. G. Hellmann, Aus der Blütezeit (as note 8); Aby Warburg, 'Heidnisch-antike Weis-
sagung' (as note 8). Cf. especially J. Volmar's Practica Wittenbergensis. 1523.
90
See Zambelli, 'Fine del mondo' (as note 15), pp. 306 ff., 328 ff., 342-346 (on Carion), 313,
319 (on Copp), pp. 299, 318,346 (on Grünpeck), 322n„ 330-331 (on Virdung), 309 (on
Tannstetter) and 336-340 (on Seitz).

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 Prognostic Tradition and Proclamation of the World 151

and not comparable to that of the appointed preachers of the Word. Yet
even among the 'Lutheran' writers of Word-centred practicas, one can
identify a variety of approaches. They include Gengenbach's accom-
modation of the Word to the urban reform efforts and Pastoris's insist-
ence on the primacy of the Word in a Reformation which is God's work
and which man accepts in faith; with this faith he can confront the
anxieties of his earthly existence in the certainty that his salvation has
been achieved.

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